


Tony Stark's Really Not That Cool

by Deadly_Sirius



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Has Anxiety, Peter Parker has ADHD, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Peter Parker-centric, Peter-centric, Stucky - Freeform, i wrote one of those, this is less angsty than it sounds i swear, yep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-07 06:42:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18615238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadly_Sirius/pseuds/Deadly_Sirius
Summary: Peter goes on a field trip. Tony Stark doesn't know how to function ever. Flash is a dick.





	Tony Stark's Really Not That Cool

There was no point in him going, Peter tried to point out to his teacher. Ms. Gergadine simply shook her head and said he’d be given an unexcused absence should he miss the field trip, most likely multiple as it was a full-day excursion.

Flash had been poking fun at Parker for the past few weeks since they first learned about it. Their class was buzzing with excitement and Ms. Gergadine was too impressed with herself for getting their whole grade into Stark Tower. Peter thought it was definitely all him and not her charisma or “influence.”

Happy was the head of security and authorized every person who walked into that building. Now, while he was a very busy man, he took his job painfully serious and cared too much to sign off on something he never read. He probably looked at the roster of names and said “yes” after he saw Peter’s. Not that Happy Hogan would ever admit that.

Today was the day of reminders: don’t forget to bring a packed lunch and water bottle; wear closed-toed shoes and no loose fabrics like skirts or particularly long sleeves; bring layers as the building is air-conditioned; turn in your permission slip by three p.m. today or you will not be going; the bus will be departing fifteen minutes before the typical school day begins, so take an earlier bus; oh, and “Peter, Ned, Michelle, I was told that the three of you were to bring your personal I.D. cards tomorrow so they don’t have to set up more visitor ones.”

Peter really liked Ms. Gergadine. She was a very nice lady, she was a decent teacher that had some semblance of what the fuck was going on in a lab, and her name was fun to say. But in that moment, he wanted to web her to the ceiling for all of eternity while he sunk down low in his chair and Ned froze, bright pink. MJ picked at her nails and looked bored.

 

She wore the same expression when they got to the Tower. She didn’t pay attention when they pulled up in front of the large, grand doors, nor did she spare a second glance as she waved to Amelie, the office lady with long acrylics that clacked on a thick keyboard. She was completely obsolete, as F.R.I.D.A.Y. could do everything Amelie could twice as fast, but Mr. Stark said her daughter had cerebral palsy and the treatment bills were not easy on the family. Plus, she knew all of the Avenger’s and Stark Industries’ secrets and Tony Stark always loved a good gossip.

EK, an intern, was tasked with touring the group that day. Peter recognized them and knew them well; Mr. Stark had allowed him to become an actual intern more and more over the past few years until he was allowed to help with their projects and use the intern floors. Neither he, nor Ned or MJ, were technically interns, more involved with the Avengers team than Stark Industries, but due to the lack of age gap between the three students and most of the interns, he and EK were close enough.

Their hair was recently buzzed and bleached, a new look from their longer braids with golden beads sparkling between the dark fibers that Peter remembered from a week ago. He asked them about it and EK joked about having a quarter-life-crisis before turning to address the whole group.

”As you go through the security screening process, you’ll be given an I.D. badge. We’ll double-check that they’re working, but please make sure they are visible and on your person at all times. You will be returning these after the tour, so please treat them with respect. You will have the most basic clearance level: one. Our scale goes up to twenty, but only Tony Stark has that badge. Your clearance will basically get you into the elevator, but not onto any floors except for the main lobby, and you can get into the bathrooms. Otherwise, stick with the group.

”Additionally, you may hear responses to questions you ask, warnings, and general announcements from Tony Stark’s A.I., F.R.I.D.A.Y. She helps keep everything in the building run the way it needs to. Aside from preventing you all from doing anything you aren't supposed to, she most likely won't get in our way today and will be in the background. Really, she's harmless," they added at the sight of a few uneasy faces. Stark technology was incredible and reported on by journalists all around the globe, but that didn't make coming face-to-face with a fully functioning A.I. any easier for the public.

They began to gesture students over a thick blue line on the floor. It seemed like a stripe of paint, but as a student passed over, F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice rang out with information deemed necessary: "Student Visitor, clearance level: 1. Temporary stay. No threat percentage assumed."

"Threat?" The brown-haired girl asked, quivering at the disembodied voice through the speakers and regretting the choice to go first. Peter watched EK open their mouth and knew the approved comforting message would be sanitized and bland.

"Mr. Stark likes to play jokes," Peter reassured from the back of the line. "He told me he added that last part just to freak out guests because he could. It's really just code for saying that you don't have any metal on you, like a metal detector. F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s really sweet, I promise."

She smiled vaguely and hurried off of the flooring. One-by-one, the students filed through. As their clearance levels were read off, the stripe changed to white repeatedly.

"Student Visitor, clearance level: 1. Temporary stay. No threat percentage assumed," F.R.I.D.A.Y rang out, even for Flash, who joked that his threat level would be 110%. Peter had to restrain himself from saying that even Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier didn't exceed 85% on Tony Stark's scale. Peter was never sure how it was ranked, but he had no desire to ask any time soon.

It was MJ's turn, she was somewhere in the middle of the line, and she stepped onto the floor casually and habitually. "Michelle Jones, clearance level: 14a. Returning temporary stay. No threat percentage assumed." The robotic-like voice changed suddenly to a much warmer tone as the A.I. continued on. "Welcome back, Ms. Jones. Ms. Potts has been alerted of your arrival, and has asked me to remind you that your trip is not scheduled until Sunday."

"Trip?" Flash asked, dangerously curious as the floor beneath MJ's feet turned purple.

MJ shrugged. "I'm one of her many personal assistants. She's taking me to San Francisco for a business meeting." Flash's mouth dropped open.

More students filed through, as well as Ms. Gergaadine, and Ned and Peter come up last while dreading their classmate's reactions. EK spared Peter another moment by going after Ned, who walked over lime green flooring from his clearance level of 14b. He'd had to explain that MJ had more access to the executive side of the building while he worked in the labs more frequently, hence their letter differentiation.

"Intern, clearance level: 3. Tour guide status temporarily. No threat percentage assumed."

"Hang on," somebody piped up as the floor turned orange and EK blushed slightly. "How come Ned's got a higher level if you're both interns?"

"Uh-"

"Stark Industries interns do not have access to the laboratories. If needed, please request assistance from your Project Manager or a security member. For higher floors, please contact Happy Hogan, Head of Security, clearance level: 19," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded easily.

Peter gulped. Everyone knew where Ned and MJ stood against the average intern. His level made no sense at all, especially compared to Happy's.

"Peter Benjamin Parker, clearance level: 18d. Permanent guest." All Avengers had security level 18, except for Steve, who's I.D. occasionally dropped to 10, depending on Mr. Stark's mood. Different letters of A through D indicated whether they were a permanent resident, frequent visitors, or hardly appeared, like King T'Challa. Dr. Banner, Dr. Strange, Shuri, Clint and Bucky (for some reason, although Peter suspected it was how often they needed assistance with their hearing aids and prosthetic arm, respectively,) along with Peter all had access to Mr. Stark's highest-level labs, and therefore all had 18d clearance. Most of them also had level a C tacked on, allowing them entrance to the arms department, a clearance level Peter had been trying to get for months now.

The base and the Tower, which Mr. Stark had chosen last minute, to the horror of Happy, to not sell any of its 93 stories, had the same security system to anybody of a level 14 or higher, and used the same I.D. cards. Level 14 indicated if somebody knew the Avengers and had access to the base or not, save for level 5 which was for food workers, cleaning help or training staff who worked near or around the Avengers and helped their spaces stay habitable.

"67% threat level; weapon detected; no threat currently assumed." _Shit._ Peter'd forgotten about that tidbit. Ned stared openly at him with a _look_ and the suit in Peter's backpack suddenly became fifty pounds heavier. He really shouldn't have brought it.

"Welcome back Peter. Mr. Stark has been alerted of your presence in the building. He, however, waved me off and continued to blast the Australian rock band AC/DC while ignoring Lieutenant Colonel Rohdes' attempts to enter the workshop. The latter requests your assistance at your earliest convenience."

Everyobdy, including Peter, had dropped their jaws to the floor. Peter coughed vaguely and stepped off of the now-black stripe on the floor.

"There is an update for Karen currently available. Would you like me to begin installation?"

"NO! No, F.R.I.D.A.Y., that's fine, I can come back later," Peter hurried out, face bright red as he shuffled over to join the group. Ned hit himself in the face with an open palm. MJ rolled her eyes and the tour guide, not fully understanding who or what Karen was, nor Peter's other persona, decided that there were too many Stark secrets to keep track of and hurried the group on in an attempt at distraction.

 

Students gaped openly at photos of New York after the Chitari attack and looked up-close at Tony Stark's real copy of the Sokovia Accords. Peter, for all the time he spent in the Tower and in the make-shift museum of memorabilia, could never bring himself to look at the pages behind the glass, nor Captain Rogers' missing signature. While the Accords technically were still in place, after years of inability to enforce them and countless missions and wars that the Avengers took part in righteously, both inside and outside of the Accords, they were practically mute and disregarded entirely by all except for a few extremists. That was why Captain America was even allowed inside America, EK explained.

"Speak of the devil," they said fondly as Steve Rogers entered the museum floor.

"Oh! Hello everybody, I was looking for the gym; must've gotten off of at the wrong floor. I'm bad at paying attention to the stairwell signs," he said.

Peter rolled his eyes. Even the superheroes in the building didn't climb thirty-one flights of stairs out of desire to the museum. His spidey-enhanced senses had heard the elevator  _ding_ a few minutes ago. Plus, the gym was up another sixty flights with the Avengers' old rooms, armory, and the rest of the training rooms. Cap had done this exact schpiel about eight times before when Peter and Ned lead their own tours to the public. He must not have asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. for a live feed though, because Steve avoided talking about the Accords like the plague.

"We're talking about Sokovia," Flash stupidly said, obviously, as they all stood around the glass box.

Steve's eyes darkened briefly. He cleared his throat and put on the fake smile they all saw in their P.E. videos. "Peter! It's good to see you, why're you-"

"School trip, Captain, sir," Peter cut in, hoping not to expose anymore. They shared a silent conversation before Cap cleared his throat again, a nervous tick.

"Well, Rhodey's looking for you. I won't say anything more in front of guests," he added cheekily, smiling like he was sharing a secret to a few of them.

Before leaving, a few people asked for photos with Steve Rogers, and one girl even requested for him to do a quick sketch of an imagined Brooklyn general store on the corner in 1940. She explained that she'd learned that he was an artist from her research for a history paper and always wanted a nostalgic tattoo for her grandmother, born in Brooklyn during the 20's, who she was very close to and had died a few months prior. Peter remembered hearing about it when she missed their French class for almost a week and came back with red puffy eyes.

Peter could also very clearly hear Bucky's voice telling Steve to politely decline, but Cap, being Cap, became completely enamored with the idea after a 30-second pitch and immediately retrieved her email so he could do more than a quick sketch on a piece of scrap paper. Peter had a feeling that if she wasn't careful, his classmate would end up with a full back tattoo that took Steve fourteen hours to draw and shade.

After saying goodbye, EK took the group then to the cafeteria where they'd eat lunch before heading to a lab to do workshops for the rest of the day. The students were passed off to Project Managers to give a lesson about the different robot they were building or weapon they were researching or element they were experimenting with. The class split into four parts and Peter was angry to find out that MJ and Ned would both be working with the weapons' dismantler, but he had to dick around with Stark's arc reactor with Flash. To the twenty-seven other kids in his group, this was the chance in a lifetime. For Peter, this was his daily punishment when Mr. Stark got fed up with him taking up space in the lab.

"I think the arc reactor needs some attention, Peter," he'd always say with a disapproving tone and a look in his eyes that said it wasn't a suggestion. After, Peter would trudge down to the lower labs. Whoever was working would flash him a sympathetic smile before launching into an explanation of whatever recent device they were trying to power with a reactor or which device they were trying to cram Tony's new element into.

Peter's group arrived at Lab 46, named more for its floor in the building than the fact that there were forty-six labs (although Mr. Stark could've easily built that many labs, Peter had no clue and no desire to count how many actually existed in the Tower alone). Peter vaguely recognized the scientist who looked up when the group entered. She looked slightly confused, as if she couldn't quite place where she knew Peter from, but shrugged it off as she greeted Ms. Gergadine who obviously wanted to go with the group researching an element discovered not even ten years ago. She sat them down and introduced herself and her credentials, before turning on a projector and streaming a video Peter had seen a million times from the days when he was eager and new to Stark Industries. It was even on their website.

The video started in black-and-white with a film clip of Howard Stark and then progressed into modern day, telling the history of the Starks' Arc Reactor and new element. Even if he hadn't seen the video so many times, Peter was still quite familiar with the history and properties of Tony's new element. Nobody could blame him for checking out, but when the video reached it's tenth minute and wasn't cose to being halfway done, Peter slipped his phone out of his pocket. Scrolling the brightness down, he looked for a text from Rhodey or Tony or anybody and managed to find one from the former. He managed to read half of it, and gathered that something was not right, by the time Ms. Gergadine saw him and extended her hand for his phone.

She returned to standing still with bright eyes towards the screen as Peter gave up his one means of entertainment. Flash glanced back at him from a few rows of folding chairs forward and flipped him off discreetly. Peter's leg bounced rapidly. He glanced to the pristine white lab and made a break for it. Quietly rising, he took a few steps towards the woman who'd introduced herself fifteen minutes ago. He couldn't remember her name.

Deciding she'd be a better bet than Ms. Gergadine, he asked if he could use the restroom in a whisper and she nodded, puzzled when he said he didn't need directions, and Peter slipped out of the lab. He breathed a little better outside of the narrow walls and headed down a few hallways before finding the nearest elevator and getting in. The I.D. card in his pocket, the one attached to a lanyward hanging out carelessly and tickling his jean-clad thigh, slipped easily and familiarly into the card scanner and Peter jammed the button for Level 91.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., can you reach Rhodey?"

"Let me see," the A.I.'s voice responded. Peter hummed for a few seconds before she returned. "Leiutenant Colonel Rhodes isn't currently responding to my notifications. Would you like me to call him?"

"Nah, try Dr. Banner."

"Dr. Banner is on a flight to Beijing right now. Would you still like me to contact him?"

"Shit. Never mind, F.R.I.D.A.Y., I'll just ask Cap when I see him."

Peter then went through his own notifications and messages she supplied him with and tried to find any video feed of Tony's workshop from the past twenty-four hours. The elevator continued to ding up floors, it's sturdy, unyielding wooden walls with golden trip started to remind Peter why he often didn't take elevators. Distracting himself with trying to acccess his phone and shut it off so Ms. Gergadine didn't see any messages Tony might send him, Peter didn't realize the elevator had stopped moving until F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice alerted him that he'd arrived.

"Cap! Hey, you wanna give me some more details about Mr. Stark?" Peter asked as he stepped out of the tiny room and into the common living space shared by the Avengers. The carpet was a regular gray and everything had a metallic shine to it, Tony's modern industrial tastes seeping into the exposed walls, textured wide-wooden-plank floors and geometric furniture. There was a black leather armchair next to the gray, cloth sofa that was currently trying not to buckle under two supersoldiers.

Steve Rogers was laying sideways, his neck underneath Bucky Barnes' flesh arm and, what Peter guessed was the remnance of a protein shake, sat on the wooden coffee table across from him. His back was pressed into Bucky's chest, their combined size forcing Bucky up against the cushions and Steve nearly off the couch. The former's metal hand was tracing a soft pattern into the flushed skin of Steve's side that was currently exposed from his shirt riding up slightly. Bucky's left leg was forward and bent at the knee, his calf resting on Steve's thigh.

Cap's eyes were closed and Bucky glared at Peter for the frown that spread across his face, replacing the relaxed one from a mere moment ago. Peter didn't have time to feel bad about it.

Steve sighed. "Gimme a sec," he mumbled, his eyes still not opening.

Bucky pulled him in closer to his chest, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and Peter stood there waiting.

"Cap?"

"Goddammit, he didn't leave, did he?" Rogers tiredly asked the man behind him.

"No," Bucky said with a smile, his nose nuzzling Steve's hair. "C'mon, doll. Get up. Parker needs your help and Rhodey looked like he was about to burst last I saw," Bucky patted Steve's hip lightly and started to detach himself.

Steve pointed to Peter as he groaned and stood up. "You owe me one."

The teenager didn't know what 'one' he owed, but he nodded gratefully nonetheless and followed Steve Rogers towards the stairs. They climbed two flights effortlessly as the older spoke about the happenings of the day at the Tower, mainly about Tony's recent complete lack of sleep due to Banner travelling for press tours over the past month and Pepper preparing for the massive conference. Neither of his typical helpers were there to tell him to go the fuck to sleep as Peter had five major assignments in three days (it wasn't even finals yet, Ned kept insisting) and Dr. Strange was still occupying the New York Sanctum. It was actually Stephen who informed Rhodey of the situation, Steve exlplained, since whenever Tony was behaving well and staying healthy he typically made an effort to visit the doctor once or twice a week. He hadn't seen Tony in three weeks.

"Shit," Peter breathed as they got to their floor.

"Yeah," Steve replied darkly, pulling open the door and ushering Peter inside. "Rhodey was up here last I checked."

The second the door opened, ear-splitting rock music blared and Peter had to cup his hands over his ears. His spidey senses flared and they only made the music louder. The two superheroes came across Rhodey sittting on the floor and glaring at a spot on the opposite wall with earplugs jammed in.

"Rhodey?" Steve shouted, waving his hand in front of the other man. He blinked a few times and then gathered his surroundings, standing up to greet the other two.

"He hasn't come out for at least four days and I'm not sure the last time he ate or drank anything besides coffee," Rhodey said, gesturing to Tony through the glass.

"We should never have let him put a bathroom in there," Peter groaned. With the amount of caffeine Tony consumed, it was practically the only reason he used to come out of the space.

The workshop was a mess and Tony was working furiously. Scraps littered every surface and Peter couldn't even tell what he was working on. It looked like it might've been a part of his most recent Iron Man suit, but the wiring was all over the place and Tony's hands were marked from cuts and burns and bruises.

Peter's chest was thrumming with the deafening music and a small projection from his watch informed him, by F.R.I.D.A.Y. of course, that his blood pressure was climbing along with his adrenaline levels as his breathing shallowed out. The sensory overload was getting to him and Peter knew what was going to happen very quickly. His mind would start to spiral and the noise would change to loud screams and the sensory overload would be mistaken for the crumbling buildings and metallic taste of blood from the fight he'd gotten into two months ago, one that still haunts him. His fingers tightened and his head started to spin.

"Mr. Stark," Peter said over the intercoms to the workshop. He was surprised he could even use it during Tony's tantrum. The man on the other side of the glass pointedly ignored Peter's voice but could clearly hear him. "Mr. Stark," he repeated, "if you don't open the door and turn off the music, I  _will_ have a panic attack. And with all of my work due, my sleep schedule's been all over the place so it'll be a bad one," Peter warned.

"Peter-" Steve tried to cut in, grabbing his shoulder and moving to take him away from the music. He stopped, however, when he saw that Tony had actually looked up. 

Stark squinted his eyes, as if trying to get a read on Peter. His lips began to move and Peter saw his live vitals being pulled up by F.R.I.D.A.Y. He raised a shaking hand and waved at Mr. Stark, who evidently swore and quickly crossed the room. The second he wrenched the door open, the music shut off completely and he grabbed Peter to pull him in for a hug.

"What the fuck are you doing, kid?" Tony asked miserably, his arms tight as Peter's breathing began to level out.

"Hey, this week's been awful and today's been stressful so I was already a wreck," Peter replied with a shaky grin.

When he finally let Peter go, Tony caught sight of Steve and Rhodey both standing with their arms crossed and glares directed his way. "Listen, I didn't tell Peter-"

"What happened, Tony? You've been way too destructive lately for there not to be something going on, so don't even give me that shit," Rhodey cut in.

Steve glanced at Peter. "You pulled him out of a field trip, Stark. You owe him an explanation."

"The field trip was pretty lame, no offense, but yeah, what happened Mr. Stark?"

 

"That man  _needs_ to reign in his emotions. He basically just shut down because he got so horny," MJ complained when Peter told them the story riding back on one of the buses.

Ned laughed loudly and Peter shushed them both. "Dr. Banner's been gone for almost a month, though. And with all of his PTSD and nightmares and shit... I'm not saying he was right in blocking everybody out, but I get it, is all I'm saying." Peter sighed and leaned back.

"So did you miss the rest of the lab time due to all of that?"

"What? Oh, no. Bucky felt bad for glaring at me so we left and he got me food from that boba tea place a few blocks down and then I walked into the lab like three hours after I'd 'left for the bathroom' and Gergadine looked like she wanted to murder me. I think she thought I just smoked weed in Tony Stark's bathroom for an afternoon."

That made MJ crack a smile at the thought of high Peter on a school trip. Not to say that Peter was totally clean, in fact she knew very well how he looked when he decided to relax at her house after a long night, but he never would mess around with his academic career or his Stark 'Internship.' 

Ned described how awkward it was to explain to his and MJ's Project Manager why he was in that lab today instead of with his regular team, having his own trials to run regularly anyways. It wasn't one open to the public, however, as it did a lot of work on Spider-Man's web fluid and suit capabilities in general, as well as other Avengers-themed research. Somebody yelled at him for finishing all of the challenges too fast, as their goal was to try and take apart weapons (harmless, they promised the school) and then figure out how to put it back together. Half of the technology given to the students Ned designed for a superhero and the other half he'd already researched fully to implement parts of it into Peter's suit or something of the likes.

MJ had stood there and watched while Ned went crazy. He won every single challenge. It got to the point where he started seeing if he could design a new device out of the one he was given and somebody told the Project Manager that he should be disqualified.

"Wow Ned, didn't realize you were such a cheater," Flash said, leaning over the bus seats to flick him on the head. "Penis over here dicked out of the group and gave Gergadine a heart attack, like, twice. Just because you think you're the shit, Penis, doesn't mean you get to up and leave. You're so gonna get suspended when we get back."

Peter rolled his eyes and tried to ignore Flash. "You're just mad that I built the mini arc reactor you spent three hours drooling over in my spare time."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/kudos if you liked it!


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